The Hershey Bears winger leads the league in scoring (25-59-84),
12 points ahead of Norfolk’s Cory Conacher (72), and is tied with
Aucoin for the league lead in assists.

Bourque, averaging 1.31 points per game, needs to average 1.8 in
Hershey’s final nine regular-season games to become the 15th Bear to
reach the 100-point mark.

“Just trying to win games right now,” Bourque said Tuesday. “I’m
not really looking at getting to that plateau. But, obviously, it would
be really nice to get to that. You never know how many chances you’ll
have in your career to get to that point.”

Being the league scoring leader (and probable scoring champion)
stamps Bourque, 26, as a prime AHL MVP candidate. Ten Bears have won AHL
scoring titles, with Aucoin the most recent during an AHL MVP season in
2009-10.

“Oftentimes, the guy who’s going to lead the league in scoring
probably should be the guy who gets it,” Bears head coach Mark French
said. “I can understand in certain instances where it doesn’t happen,
but Chris has certainly meant a lot to our team. I think it would be
very, very hard to overlook him.

“He’s been a constant. He’s obviously one of our best 5-on-5
players, and he’s really a mainstay on the penalty kill and, obviously,
the power play. I think we’ve counted on Chris more this year than in
the past times with the Hershey Bears, especially with the amount of
time he’s spending on the penalty kill and how we’ve used him in all
situations, not just the offensive ones.”

Conacher, who leads the AHL in goals (34) with a club that owns
the league’s top record and has won a league-record 20 straight games,
also looms as a strong candidate.

Six Hershey players have been named AHL MVP.

“It would be nice to have my name in there to represent
Hershey,” said Bourque, MVP of the 2009-10 Calder Cup playoffs.

“It’s kind of a team award where everyone kind of chips in, your
linemates and everyone on the power play. It would be nice for everyone
to get a little taste of that, but we’ve still got a couple more weeks
to go.”

Bourque has recorded four goals and 17 assists since Aucoin’s departure.

“Usually, when he’s out there, he has the puck more,” Bourque
said. “I feel like I’ve been getting a little more of the puck without
him here, so you kind of just adjust a little bit in that.

“He sets you up for such nice plays. Putting it in the back of
the net, I don’t think I’ve been doing that as much. I’ve been more of a
playmaker since he’s been gone. You play with a world-class player like
that, it’s a little bit easier on the ice. It’s been a little bit
different, for sure.”

Fellow forwards Aucoin, Cody Eakin and Joel Rechlicz have all
had recall stints with Washington this season, but Bourque hasn’t.

His last Washington recall was for one game in 2009-10. Twenty
of his 33 career NHL games came with Pittsburgh in 2009-10 after the
Penguins claimed him off waivers from the Caps, who subsequently
reclaimed him.

“I can’t really control that,” Bourque said. “I can just control
how I’ve been playing and what I do here for Hershey. It’s kind of been
like that for the six years that I’ve been in the organization.

“I love being here [in Hershey]. It’s fun. It’s tough to comment
on something like that. It’s up to them to make those decisions. I have
no call on that. I enjoy my time in Hershey.”

CARROLL BACK

After missing the past six games, Andrew Carroll is expected to return
to the lineup Wednesday night at Binghamton. The gritty forward said he
was injured in a March 9 fight against Raymond Sawada at St. John’s.

“I just kind of rolled my ankle in the fight,” Carroll said. “We were both obviously holding on to each other, pushing.”

Carroll, who has five assists and 128 penalty minutes in 60 games, is still looking for his first 2011-12 goal.

“I want to help the team out anyway we can,” Carroll said. “The bottom
line is to get a win. If I don’t score and we win, it’s fine. If I do,
it would help out.

“It’s going to come and, hopefully, it comes before the playoffs just to
get a little confidence there. But, yeah, it’s been tough, that part.
I’ve just got to keep fighting, keep going, and play my game. If it
happens it happens. If it doesn’t, can’t worry about it. Just got to
keep going.”

BLUE LINES

The Bears lead the season series with Binghamton 5-1-0-0. The game
is scheduled to be televised (ABC-27 RTV Channel 27.2, Comcast Channel
246, Verizon Fios Channel 461, Blue Ridge Cable Channel 152, Kuhn
Communications Channel 67).

Washington signed free-agent defenseman Cameron Schilling to a two-year, entry-level contract. The 23-year-old is slated to report to Hershey and play on an amateur tryout contract.
The 6-2, 197-pounder spent last season with Miami University (Ohio) and
recorded 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) in 39 games as a senior and
helped Miami finish the regular season with the top-ranked defense in
the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), allowing just 1.97
goals per game.

SweetestHockeyOnEarth.com is hosting a charity
viewing party for the Binghamton game at Fire Alley in Hershey starting at
6:30 Wednesday night. A raffle, featuring items autographed by the Bears and
other prizes, will be held to benefit the Ronald McDonald House.

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